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By Andrew Adam NewmanThe New York Times • Monday June 30, 2014 1:24 AM

Cracker Jack would be hard-pressed to put a dollar value on the song
Take Me Out to the Ball Game. The 1908 tune ritually sung by baseball fans during the
seventh-inning stretch has been advertising gold for the 121-year-old snack: “Buy me some peanuts
and Cracker Jack...”

Mike Pesca, of the public-radio show
On the Media, once tried to assess the value, equating it with Cracker Jack placing an
advertisement along outfield walls of all of the major league’s 30 stadiums, a marketing campaign
that would cost the brand about $25 million a year.

Cracker Jack has done little actual advertising in recent years.

“The brand has kind of been dark for a while,” said Ram Krishnan, the senior vice president of
marketing at PepsiCo, which has owned Cracker Jack within its Frito-Lay snack division since
1997.

Now, Cracker Jack is about to resume promotions. But to reach its target consumer of mothers
ages 25-45, the company is initiating a Facebook campaign rather than a traditional advertising
push. The campaign, called “The Surprise Inside Project,” plays off the fact that Cracker Jack is
known for the prize inside its box.

The contest asks Facebook users to request creative surprises for friends and family, with a
value of up to $20.

Participants can make requests on a form through the brand’s Facebook page or at
CrackerJack.com from Thursday through July
31.

In all, 200 winners will be selected, meaning the brand will actually procure the items and
deliver them in a box that resembles a Cracker Jack box. Winners are being encouraged to take
photographs and video of prizes being presented, and to post them using the hashtag #CJSurprise to
social media such as Twitter, Vine or Instagram.